We Make a Good Team
by seaunicorn
Summary: AU. Myka and Pete work for the government as zombie hunters, trying to keep the outbreak in the country under control. When Helena Wells is thrown into the mix, tensions are high between her and Myka. But who knows? Maybe they would make a pretty good team.
1. A New Addition

I've been thinking about this story for a bit and finally decided to write it. I have a lot of ideas, so I hope you like it. Let me know what you think :)

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**Chapter one: A New Addition**

"Where are we again?"

Myka turned to her partner Pete. "Chicago, I think. I came here once as a kid." She glanced around them at the abandoned cars, broken windows, and overgrown foliage. "The place is really different from what I remember."

"Of course it's different," Pete said. "Being run down by zombies tends to change a place." Myka glared at him. Pete didn't notice. "I've always wanted to visit Chicago. I hear their pizza is _amazing_!"

Myka rolled her eyes. "We're not really here to get pizza, Pete."

Pete put up his hands in mock surrender. "I know! I was just saying." He squinted as he looked at their surroundings. He noticed something and pointed to it in the distance. "Is that a Wal-Mart?"

Myka looked in the direction he was pointing. There were only two letters that hadn't fallen off the sign, but it did look like a Wal-Mart. "I think so," she said.

"Do you think they have twinkies?"

"Pete, that's disgusting." She made a face.

"Hey, twinkies can last for a long time!" Pete defended. "Just, come on, let's go check!" And he ran off in the direction of the store. Myka rolled her eyes and followed him.

They slowly made their way through the ruined city to the abandoned Wal-Mart, making sure to look around every corner for visitors. When they made it safely to the store, Pete headed inside. "I'm going to keep watch out here," Myka called to him. "Make it quick." Pete's only response was a thumbs-up that Myka didn't see.

It was an uneventful watch. Myka kept her gun safely in her hand as her eyes constantly scanned the parking lot, but there was no movement to be found. A few minutes later, Pete returned, a twinkie stuffed in his mouth, and the front pocket of his backpack looked slightly larger than it was before. Myka suspected he stuffed it with twinkies.

"Took you long enough. Let's go." Myka walked ahead and turned the corner of the parking lot without looking ahead. Pete followed closely behind her. And they walked straight into the path of a group of approaching zombies. "Shit."

The zombies had already caught sight of them, so there was no point in trying to be stealthy. Pete took his gun out of the holster and fired a few shots, taking down three of the things.

Gunshots rang through the air as Myka took her turn shooting at the slowly approaching targets. There were still five zombies creeping across the parking lot towards them.

"Mykes, there's more behind you!"

Myka fired another shot. Three zombies down, but two more still coming. "I'm a little busy here, Pete! Why can't you deal with them?" Another shot, another zombie down.

"I'm out of ammo!" Myka rolled her eyes and shot down the last zombie. She reloaded her gun and spun around, firing at one that was about to lunge for Pete. It fell to the ground, dead for good this time. "Thanks."

"Yeah, you owe me." Myka shot down the last two zombies, and she and Pete were alone once again. "What do you mean you're out of ammo? That's not possible. We're not having another rendezvous for three more days."

"I don't know, it just happened! Can't I have some of yours?"

"If I share mine with you it's barely going to last until tomorrow."

Pete huffed. "What am I gonna do then?"

Myka shrugged. "That's your problem."

Suddenly, Pete's radio buzzed. "Hello? Agent Bering? Agent Lattimer?"

Myka stole the radio from Pete's grasp and spoke into it. "Yes, this is Agent Bering."

"Great," said the voice, which belonged to Captain Artie Nielson. "I'm going to need you to turn on your GPS signal. We've got a helicopter trying to reach you. We're about five minutes out, but need your exact coordinates."

Pete rummaged through his backpack for the GPS device and turned it on as Myka replied. "Ok, it's on. Why is a helicopter coming for us? I thought we weren't supposed to meet up again for another three days?"

"Oh, yes, I know," Artie replied. "This is an urgent matter, though, so we're just bumping up the meeting a bit. We can also replenish any supplies you might need when we're there. Food, water, ammunition…"

Pete threw his fist in the air in triumph.

Myka rolled her eyes at him. "Alright, but what is this urgent matter?"

"It's best you just wait until we arrive, Agent Bering." Pete and Myka exchanged curious glances, but agreed to wait. It was only another three minutes before they heard the approaching helicopter.

It dropped down in the middle of the empty parking lot. Myka and Pete walked closer and watched as three figures got out. The rotors of the helicopter slowly stopped spinning, allowing the two parties to converse without losing their voices.

Pete ran up to Artie and slapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks, man! I just ran out of ammo so I really needed this!" Their friend Leena was next to Artie, and she smirked and gave Pete a few boxes of ammunition. "Thanks Leena, you're a doll."

Myka wasn't paying attention to this because she was preoccupied with the other woman standing in front of her that she didn't recognize. "Artie, who's this?"

"You know darling, you don't have to ask Artie. I'm very capable of answering for myself." The accent caught Myka off guard. She briefly glanced at the woman, raising an eyebrow at her. Then she turned back to Artie, waiting for an answer.

"Pete, Myka," Artie began. "This is Agent Wells. She's going to be joining you two in the field."

Pete nodded. "Cool. Welcome to the team!" He held up his hand for a high five. Agent Wells hesitantly tapped it.

Myka, however, was not as thrilled about the new addition. "Excuse me?" she said.

"Agent Wells is going to be working with you—" Artie began to repeat, but Myka cut him off.

"No, I heard you the first time. Why is she working with us?" Myka asked. "Why can't you pawn her onto Steve and Claudia? They probably need more help than we do. You know Pete and I can handle anything."

"This isn't about you needing help," Artie replied. "I simply thought Agent Wells would work well with you guys, so this is where I assigned her."

"Can't you reassign her?" Myka pleaded.

"No. Agent Wells will be working with you and Agent Lattimer, so get used to it. Leena, let's go."

Leena gave Pete and Myka hugs before boarding the helicopter again. "It was great seeing you guys. I miss you." The rotors started rotating again. "See you soon!" she shouted over the wind.

Pete and Myka watched as the helicopter took off, leaving the team there with their new addition. Once the helicopter disappeared, Myka forced herself to look at the other woman standing in front of her. Agent Wells smirked. "So, where are we off to?"

Myka groaned and headed out of the parking lot, not caring if the other two followed her or not.


	2. Shut you out

Thanks for your comments on the first chapter, feedback is always appreciated. I'm glad you guys like the story! Here's chapter two, enjoy!

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**Chapter two: Shut You Out**

The team walked for hours in complete silence, with Myka refusing to speak, and Pete and the new girl too intimidated to say anything to her. Pete knew better than to cross Myka when she got like this. The silence made for a pretty boring trek across the state, but thankfully there were no more encounters with zombies. When the sun started to set, they found a nearby neighborhood and picked a random abandoned house to stay in for the night.

After they set their stuff down in the living room, Pete headed back outside and attempted to get a fire started. Myka sat on the ground with her back against the wall, the hood of her sweatshirt pulled over her head, hiding her face. She pulled a book and a flashlight out of her backpack and began to read.

Myka became so immersed in the words of JD Salinger that she didn't notice when someone sat down in front of her, and began to watch her. It was a while before Myka sensed the new presence by her. When she did, Myka lowered her book to find Agent Wells sitting there, watching her intently. She smiled.

Myka eyed her suspiciously. "How long have you been there?" she asked.

"Not long," the woman lied.

"What do you want?" Myka asked, closing her book.

"Well, I just thought that we may have gotten off on the wrong foot earlier, so I wanted to introduce myself." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Helena G. Wells."

Myka did not shake Helena's hand. She raised an eyebrow and stated, "Your name is HG Wells."

Helena retracted her hand and nodded. "My parents, big literature fans, got a kick out of it. My nickname as a child was HG."

"Alright." Myka lifted up her book again and continued reading. When Helena didn't leave, Myka kept her eyes on the page and asked, "Is that it?"

Helena tried to hide the fact that she was a little hurt by Myka's behavior and simply shrugged. "I suppose so." She hesitated for a moment, and tilted her head to study Myka, who was still staring intently at her book, making no move to acknowledge the other woman's presence anymore. Eventually, Helena stood up and headed back outside where Pete had finally gotten the fire started.

Myka slightly lifted her head to watch Helena walk away a bit dejectedly, and she felt bad for being rude. She wasn't going to let this new person into her life though. She wouldn't let herself get close to anyone anymore, and sometimes the only way to do that was to shut them out. That was the safest option. That was what Myka told herself, at least.

She dove back into her book, but after a while, Myka became distracted by the sound of Pete and Helena chatting pleasantly by the fire. Their voices were echoing into the house through the open door. She tried to tune them out, but it didn't work. Myka stared blankly at the same page of her book as she listened to them converse. There wasn't anything special about the conversation, it was just small talk, but Myka was still intrigued. It could have been Helena's accent, but it was also the normalcy of the moment that she enjoyed so much. She couldn't remember the last time she or Pete had to partake in small talk with someone new. It was a refreshing. She tuned out the meanings of the words they were saying and started only listening to their voices, soothed by the sound.

Myka froze when she heard her name, probably uttered by Pete. Soon after which, the conversation stopped. After a few moments of silence, Myka heard footsteps approaching her, so she turned the page to make it look like she had been reading (although she still had half of that page left, and couldn't be bothered to remember what happened on the first half, even though she had already read _Catcher in the Rye_ three times). Thankfully the person that sat down next to her was Pete, not Helena.

Myka pretended to finish a paragraph and then set the book down in front of her. "Yes?"

Pete took a breath. "Please don't hate me for saying this, but you could try being a little nicer to her."

Myka's hard gaze softened a bit. She sighed and looked down at her lap. "I know."

"Well then why don't you?" Pete asked.

"You know why."

"No, I don't," Pete lied, but he knew Myka needed to say it. "Please, enlighten me."

Silence. Myka didn't want to say anything, but she knew Pete well enough to know that he wouldn't leave until she did. She took a deep breath. "I don't want what happened with Sam to happen again."

"Myka, that was months ago."

"I know, but it was my fault!" she snapped.

Pete tried to reassure her. "No, it wasn't. It was bad luck."

"Yes it was! I was supposed to have his back, and I didn't." Myka's voice broke on the last word as she tried to hold back tears. She looked down and shut her eyes, fighting off the pain that was coming back.

"Mykes, look at me." Pete tilted her head up so their eyes met. "It was not your fault, I was there. It was nobody's fault. You just miss him. But you can't blame yourself as an excuse to not get close to anyone." Myka looked away from him and didn't reply. A few tears silently trailed down her cheeks. "You know I'm right, Myka. Letting people in isn't a bad thing. We trust each other, that's why we make such a great team."

Myka tilted her head slightly to look at Pete. She managed to force a small, smile of gratitude on her face that you almost couldn't notice. "Thanks Pete," she muttered, barely audible. But Pete heard her. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'll let you get back to reading now," he said, and stood up. "Or, if you want, you can join us by the fire. It's warmer over there. And the view is much better."

Myka nodded as she wiped her eyes. "Give me a minute," she said. Myka watched Pete walk back outside and to the fire, which was just visible through the front door, then he sat down again next to Helena. Their eyes met, and Helena smiled and gave her a small wave. Myka was surprised when she found herself smiling back.


	3. Like it or not

**Chapter three: Like it or not**

Myka wasn't going to become best friends with Helena anytime soon, but she stopped ignoring her. She joined Helena and Pete around the fire for a bit before they went to sleep. Myka would never admit it, but it was nice to have a new face around. She loved Pete, but he was a handful sometimes. Now she had someone else to share the burden. With the satisfaction of something different and new, Myka fell asleep that night more easily than she had in a long time.

Sleep never lasted very long for Myka, though. She was always plagued with nightmares, especially since the incident, and it wasn't long before she was out of her sleeping bag and walking outside, which she expected to happen anyway. What Myka didn't expect was someone else unable to sleep as well.

Helena Wells was lying on her back on the overgrown front lawn, staring up at the sky, not looking tired in the slightest. Myka hesitantly approached her. "HG?"

Helena was startled, and quickly shot up from the ground. Relief crossed her face when she saw it was only Myka. "Trying to bring back my old nickname, are we?" Helena quipped. She patted the ground next to her, inviting Myka to join her.

"Maybe." Myka sat cross-legged and started pulling at the long grass to have something to do with her hands. "What are you still doing up?"

"I don't sleep much," Helena replied simply. "And I could ask you the same question."

"Same." They sat in silence for a few moments, Helena looking at the sky and Myka looking down. Myka continued pulling at the grass beneath her, ripping it out of the ground and setting it aside. Soon she looked over at Helena and asked, "So how long were you actually there?"

Helena looked down to meet Myka's eyes. "Pardon?"

"Earlier, when I was reading," Myka clarified. "How long were you there before I noticed?"

"A few minutes," Helena admitted.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I…was enjoying watching you."

Myka gave Helena a weird look. "Ok, I'm gonna try to not be creeped out by that."

"No, what I mean is you make faces when you read and, well, it's rather cute," Helena blurted out.

"Oh!" Myka blushed. She was not expecting that. "Yeah, uh, I guess I do that sometimes," she mumbled. "You still should've said something."

"But you were so immersed in your book, I didn't want to interrupt. First time reading it?"

"Fourth." Myka's cheeks grew even redder. Helena chuckled. Myka rolled her eyes. "So why don't you sleep much?"

"Don't try to change the subject, darling!" Helena smirked at her. "How many other books have you read that much?" she teased.

Frustrated, Myka stood up. "You know what? Never mind." She began to storm off angrily.

"Myka? Wait!" Helena called, confused at her reaction.

Myka halted and turned around to face the other woman, who had also stood up. "I was going to try to be nice, you know, and that's not something that's easy for me. I didn't come out here to be made fun of."

"Myka, I wasn't—"

Myka held up a hand to stop her from talking. "Look, I'm just gonna go back to bed." She turned around and headed back inside the house.

Myka knew that she was overreacting and it probably had a lot to do with her lack of sleep the past few months and a little to do with the fact that she was slightly reluctant to be nice to the new girl. There was something about Helena Wells that frustrated her to no end. Myka didn't know if it was the cockiness and the smirk, or just something about her personality in general, but she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to get along with the other agent.

Crawling back into her sleeping bag and pulling the extra blanket over her head, Myka shut her eyes tight, trying to fall back asleep. A few minutes later, she heard Helena come inside and lie down in her own sleeping bag, only a few feet away. Neither of them got anymore sleep that night.

Myka didn't know how many hours later, but when the sun was peeking up in the east, she was startled out of her sleeping bag by a banging sound on the east wall of the house. She and Helena jumped up simultaneously and glanced to each other. Myka put a finger to her lips, signaling for Helena to keep quiet, then beckoned for her to follow as she grabbed a gun and walked slowly outside. She stopped at the front corner of the house, then slowly peeked around the bend to find a single zombie clawing at the wall.

She turned back to Helena, who whispered, "How many?"

"Just one," Myka replied, just as silent. "It doesn't know we're here yet, so we can…" Before Myka could finish her sentence, Helena disappeared around the corner. Myka stood there in shock for a moment before storming around the corner to find Helena decapitating the zombie with a sword she hadn't even noticed Helena holding. "HG!"

"Yes, darling?" Helena wiped the blade of the sword on her sleeve.

"What the hell was that?!"

"What? I killed it," she said innocently.

"You can't just jump into action like that!" Myka yelled.

"I'm not hurt. _You're _not hurt. It's fine." Helena tried to walk away, but Myka grabbed her arm to stop her.

"HG, like it or not, we are a team now," Myka said. "That means we have to listen to each other first so we don't make any stupid decisions!"

"Are you saying that was a stupid decision?" Helena rolled her eyes. "Look, I hadn't killed anything in ages, I just wanted to get this one really quick."

"Is this a joke to you?" Myka asked. "Killing zombies isn't all fun and games, lives are actually at stake!"

"Trust me, I know." Helena whispered, and all signs of joking left her eyes; the air around them became thick with tension. That is, until Pete came out, breaking through the painful silence.

"What up with all the shouting? I was asleep!" He looked up and saw the intense gaze between Myka and Helena, anger coming from Myka, and an emotion he couldn't read coming from Helena. Then he looked down and saw the dead zombie on the ground, and its head a few feet away. "Oh. Never mind."

Myka held her glare at Helena for a few more seconds before looking away and to Pete. "Let's get packed up. We should be leaving soon." She walked away without looking back at either of them.

Pete turned to Helena. "What was that about?" he asked.

Helena looked down at her feet. "Nothing," she replied, holding onto the locket around her neck that he hadn't noticed before. "It was nothing."


	4. Like it or not (part two)

Thanks for the feedback from the last chapter! I was a little worried Myka's overreaction didn't make sense, but I'm glad it did. Hope you like this next chapter.

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**Chapter four: Like it or not (part two)**

The following days were uneventful. The group spent their time wandering through abandoned cities and buildings in ruin, spending the nights in empty houses. Nobody really talked much, except Pete, but Pete was always talking anyway. But the worst part (yes, even worse than Pete's sad attempts at making jokes), was that they weren't coming across any zombies.

You would think that not running into flesh eating, undead monsters would be a good thing, but Pete, Myka, and Helena needed something to do. They were bored. And since they had no outlet with which to relieve stress, tensions were very high between everyone, particularly Myka and Helena.

Three days after Helena killed the zombie that morning, they were wandering through yet another abandoned city, still not finding any walking corpses, and very impatient.

"Where exactly are we?" Pete asked.

"I don't know," Myka said, bored.

"You don't have any idea where we are?"

"I just said I don't know!" Myka snapped.

"Yeesh, someone's got her panties in a bunch," Pete complained.

"Pete," Myka warned. "I haven't killed anything in four days. Don't make me want to change that with you."

The team continued to trudge along in silence. They looked inside empty houses, upturned cars, abandoned buildings, down streets, and around corners, but weren't finding anything. Helena was getting increasingly frustrated.

"What exactly is it that we're supposed to be doing?" she asked, annoyed.

"Writing a musical," Myka replied sarcastically. "We're hunting zombies! What the hell else do you think we're supposed to be doing?"

Helena rolled her eyes. "What I mean is that it's been quiet for a few days. Surely you must have some protocol for this."

"No, we don't," Myka said. "We look for zombies. We kill zombies. That's it. Sometimes there's lulls, we just have to deal with it."

"Artie will also sometimes assign us to a city that's particularly infested," Pete chimed in. "But that doesn't happen too often." Myka glared at him.

"So even if you're not finding any zombies to kill, you just continue to walk around aimlessly for god knows how long?" Helena asked.

"We have our mission so I wouldn't quite say it's aimless. Let's just keep moving." Myka started to walk away.

Helena didn't follow and looked around. "Well why don't we go to the top of that building there?" She asked, pointing at one of the taller buildings nearby, which was only a few stories high. This was a rather small town. "We can look from the top and see if there are any undead in need of another death in the area. If not, we can move on."

"I like that plan!" Pete said.

"It wasn't a plan, it was merely an observation."

Myka glared at Helena, but reluctantly agreed. "Fine, let's go."

The three of them reached the building, which they discovered upon entry used to be a hospital. They found the stairs and climbed all the way to the roof. They all took their turns scanning the view from each side of the building, but none of them were spotting anything that needed a bullet or blade to the head.

"That settles it then, we can leave," Helena said happily.

"You're not in charge, you know," Myka said.

Pete groaned sensing another argument coming on. He took out his gun and started playing with it, twirling it around his finger (with the safety on, of course).

"I never said I was in charge, I was simply suggesting a course of action," Helena defended.

"It didn't sound like a suggestion," Myka accused.

"Whoops!" Pete's gun slipped out of his hands, and off of the roof onto the ground, four stories down. He looked over the edge at where it landed.

"Well it was," Helena said. "And I really wish you would stop targeting me!"

"I wish you'd stop being so annoying."

"Hey guys," Pete said, knowing there was no hope of them hearing him. "I uh, dropped my gun. I'm just gonna go…get it." He headed back inside the hospital and down the stairs.

"Oh, I'm annoying now? Pray tell, what have I done to annoy you, _your highness_?"

"It's stuff like that!" Myka exclaimed. "All your teasing quips, and how you always act like you're better than me or smarter than me. And don't even get me started on you acting all high and mighty on your first day!"

"I was not acting, how you so delicately put it, 'high and mighty'," Helena said. "I was only trying to make a good impression on my _new team_."

Myka gaped. "Oh, we are _so_ not a team!"

"Please forgive me if I'm mistaken but I do recall Captain Nielsen assigning me to _work with you_." Helena shook her head. "And weren't you the one who, just a few days ago, was telling me that we're a team? Well like it or not, we are a team. You're going to have to deal with my presence."

"Hey guys!" Pete's call from the ground wasn't heard by the two fuming women.

"Well your presence could be a little less irritating," Myka retorted.

"Guys!" Pete called again, his voice carrying up those four stories.

"And you could be a little more welcoming."

"MYKA!"

They both heard the shout this time. Myka whipped her head around the rooftop. "Where's Pete?" She ran over to the edge of the building where the voice came from and looked down. Pete was surrounded by three zombies, one of which was blocking him from the gun he went down to retrieve.

Myka pulled out her gun. "HG, how good is your long shot?"

Helena came up next to her, gun already drawn and looked down. "I won't hit Pete," she said, and fired.

One of the zombies went down. Myka fired not even a second later and a second zombie was dead. They both fired another shot at the same time, and hit the last zombie together.

"PETE!" Myka called. "PETE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

"I'm peachy, thanks Mykes." Pete picked up his gun. Myka and Helena both ran hurriedly down the stairs to meet Pete on the ground.

Myka got there first, and she inspected each of the zombie corpses on the ground, making sure they were actually dead. "Pete, I'm so sorry, I'm glad you're okay," she said, and hugged him.

"Mykes, I'm fine, don't worry about it," Pete said, hugging her back.

Myka smiled at him, but then turned to Helena, and if the expression "if looks could kill" were ever actually appropriate, now would be that time.

Helena wasn't affected in the slightest. "What have I done this time?"

Myka stepped closer to the woman. "If we had listened to _you_ and left," she pointed her finger to Helena's chest as she said _you_, "then we would have left these zombies here, thinking the place was clear."

"They must have been hiding somewhere, I didn't think they were that smart," Helena said. "I'm sorry for trying to be efficient!" Her voice was dry and showed no signs of sincerity.

"You know what?" You could hear Myka's voice dripping with frustration. "You've just been—"

"Oh, here we go again!" Pete exclaimed. Helena and Myka both turned to look at Pete questioningly. "You two are _constantly_ fighting. Not only is it annoying on a daily basis, but thanks to you two, I could have died today!" Myka and Helena were silent as Pete let that fact sink in. "Even now, you're making this about yourselves instead of making sure something like this doesn't happen again. When did _I _become the only professional here? Myka, you need to stop being such a bitch, and HG, you need to stop tempting her. You two need to work out your goddamn issues before it costs a life."

And with that, Pete stormed away angrily, leaving Helena and Myka alone, thinking about what he said.


	5. Everyone has their scars

This was probably the most difficult chapter for me to write so far, I hope you like it. I really hope I'm doing the characters justice. Please let me know what you think, I would really appreciate it!

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**Chapter five: Everyone has their scars**

Myka and Helena tried to find Pete after his little outburst so they could apologize, but he seemed to have disappeared. He probably hoped that if he left the two of them alone together long enough, they would be more pleasant upon his return.

They called his name as they searched the streets and nearby buildings. "Pete?" Myka shouted. "Pete, where are you?"

The sun had gone down a while ago, and Myka wanted to continue searching, but Helena had to talk her out of it. She gently grasped the taller woman's arm and said, "Myka, it's dark out, we should probably find a place to stay for the night."

Myka frowned. "But we can't just leave him out there alone!"

"I'm sure Pete knows how to take care of himself," Helena reassured. "Besides, I don't think he wants to be found right now."

Myka looked into the distance, searching for any sign of Pete for a few more seconds before she pursed her lips and reluctantly nodded, letting Helena lead her through the nearby neighborhood and into one of the less dilapidated houses.

Helena and Myka set down their backpacks in the front room of the house. "Just try to get some rest. We can keep looking for Pete once the sun comes up," Helena said.

Myka shook her head as she unrolled her sleeping bag and searched her backpack for some food. _Rest, that's not going to happen_, she thought. She successfully fished out a granola bar from her backpack and looked up to find that Helena had left the room. The front door was open so she assumed she went outside. Myka quickly ate her snack and drank some water before following HG to the front of the house.

She found Helena sitting on the bottom porch step, looking up at the night sky once again, just like first night Myka found her awake. She leaned against the doorframe and folded her arms, watching Helena gaze into the dark abyss, head tilted, a small, sad smile on her lips.

The way the moonlight hit her face, Myka noticed, made her look pale white, but it was a beautiful kind of pale. Myka stayed in the doorway for a few more seconds, her lips quirking up a bit as she watched the other woman. Myka took a deep breath, she knew she had to do this now before she lost her nerve, so she sat down next to Helena on the porch. "Pete's right, you know." Helena looked at her questioningly. "I have been kind of a bitch," she admitted.

"Yes, you have," Helena stated. Myka raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. "And, I suppose, I shouldn't have been teasing you so much. I knew what sort of response you would have." Myka nodded, but HG wasn't finished. "I have _tried_ being nice to you though. I just don't understand why you keep doing this."

"I know," Myka said. "You don't deserve that. It's just, I don't—I can't get close to people." Myka looked down and closed her eyes, struggling to find the words to say. Helena put a hand on her shoulder, urging her to continue, letting her know that she was listening. Myka opened her eyes, but didn't look up. She spoke.

"I lost someone that I care about. A partner. He worked with me and Pete before you came. It was one of those rare times where Artie assigned us a city that was overrun." Myka paused. Recounting this was difficult. Thinking about it was almost like reliving it. "San Francisco," she eventually continued. "We studied the place for weeks: the zombies, where they were mostly located, what times they were more aggressive, everything. We came up with a plan—a flawless plan—on how to get rid of the infestation in the city."

Helena didn't know why Myka decided to open up to her this much, but she wasn't going to question it. She listened. She wanted to show Myka that she cared.

"Sam—that's his name, Sam—he was leading us into the city. I was trailing twenty feet behind him. Pete was the same distance behind me. It was our…strategic lineup. Everything was going perfectly, but what we didn't know was that a few more zombies had come into the city the night before. But what difference could a few more zombies make, right?" Myka shook her head and closed her eyes. "They make all the fucking difference."

Helena could hear the anger in Myka's voice. It was difficult to know how much she was hurting. "You don't have to…" Helena started, but Myka cut her off.

"Sam turned onto a street that was supposed to be clear, but apparently that's where the new residents were. When I heard his gun fire, I knew something was wrong. I ran after him, but—"

Myka's voice broke. She could still see it when she closed her eyes: Sam lying dead on the ground, with two zombies on top of him and tearing at his flesh, killing the monsters then running to his side. She couldn't keep the tears from falling down her cheeks. Myka opened her eyes when she felt a comforting hand on her knee. Helena gave her a sympathetic smile.

Myka quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and open her mouth, trying to continue, but nothing was coming out. She stared blankly ahead, trying to form words. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, unable to continue. "I had to shoot him," she said eventually. "I had to shoot him in the head or he was going to come back and—"

Myka was crying again. This time, Helena put an arm around her, pulling her into an embrace. Myka buried her face into Helena's shoulder and threw her arms around the smaller woman. She didn't know why she was sharing so much, and she didn't know why she was letting herself cry in front of someone who was practically a stranger, but she knew that it felt better to have comforting arms around her, holding her, and a voice whispering soft, soothing words into her ear. Someone who at least seemed to care.

Myka didn't know how long she was crying, but eventually she lifted her head from Helena's shoulder. She didn't continue her story anymore. She just sat in silence, looking at the ground. Helena could see the pain in her, and she wanted to make it better somehow. But she had to ask, "You loved him, didn't you?"

Slowly, and without looking up, Myka nodded. "I don't want to go through that pain again," she whispered helplessly. "That's why I shut people out. That's why I've been acting like a bitch. I don't want to get close to people just so they can be taken away from me."

Helena moved her hand across Myka's back in comforting circles, and Myka closed her eyes and leaned into the touch. "You're not the only one who's lost someone you love, you know." Myka opened her eyes and listened to Helena speak. "Back in England, my job was just like ours now. I was in a team of four. We were trying to take back London, and… I was the only survivor." Helena sighed. "Jessica and William, and my brother, Charles. He saved me." Myka saw a faint smile appear on Helena's face at the thought of her brother, but it began to vanish just as quickly as it had come.

"I just wish I could have done the same…before." Helena fingers fumbled to grasp the locket that was around her neck and held it tight. Myka didn't think she was talking about her brother anymore. She considered asking about the locket, but the expression on Helena's face somehow told her that this was a story for another time.

"Hey," Myka whispered, softly bumping her shoulder against Helena's. "Thank you."

"For what, darling?" Helena asked, dropping the locket and looking to her companion once again.

"For listening, and for talking." Myka heisted. "For understanding."

"Well, I believe everyone has their own scars from this war," Helena said. "We can't begin to understand each other's stories unless we share." Myka smiled softly at Helena, who began gazing at the sky again.

"I'm sorry," Myka whispered breathlessly.

Helena looked down, her expression one of mock surprise. "An apology from Myka Bering? The world must be ending today!"

Myka giggled. "Sweetheart, the world's already ended. We're just part of the unlucky few who survived." The smiles fell from both their faces with the reality of those words. Myka sighed and stood up. "Come on," she said, and held out her hand. "Let's try to get some sleep."

Helena looked up at Myka for a moment, before taking her hand, and following Myka's gentle tug, letting herself be led back into the house. Myka crawled into her sleeping bag and beckoned for Helena to move hers closer, who happily obliged. Myka shut her eyes, urging sleep to come and take her.

"You can trust me, you know." Myka opened her eyes and turned to listen to Helena, who was already facing her. "I don't plan on going anywhere."

Myka smiled. "The thing is we don't really plan on it," she said. "It just sort of happens."

"Well I'll make sure it doesn't happen."

Myka opened her mouth to reply, and tell HG that life was too unpredictable and she couldn't promise something like that, but the look on Helena's face made her close her mouth. The smirk was gone, and she looked entirely sincere. Myka believed her, and for the first time in a long time, she felt safe, and the thought scared her.

"Goodnight Helena," she whispered, then turned to her other side and closed her eyes again.

"Sweet dreams," was Helena's soft reply. And for once, they were.


	6. Getting along

I'm on spring break now so hopefully I can get a good chunk of the story written this week and try to update regularly! Sorry this chapter took a little longer. You guys were very concerned about Pete. Don't worry, he's fine! Anyway, here's a bit of filler fluff for you. Feedback is always appreciated!

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**Chapter six: Getting along**

Morning sunlight shone through the open window, waking Myka and forcing her eyes open. She squinted and blinked a few times, eyes adjusting. She noticed that Helena was still asleep, head almost resting on her chest, and breathing on her neck. Helena was practically curled up into her side, and one of her arms was draped over the smaller woman.

Myka smiled. She had no idea how this happened because they were at least a foot further apart before falling asleep, but she wasn't going to complain because this was the first time she slept through the night since San Francisco, and waking up like this was actually kind of nice. Not that she would mention that to Helena. But maybe now that they were getting along, they would wake up like this more often. _What are you thinking, Myka?_ She mentally scolded herself and shook the thought out of her head.

The small movement made Helena stir from her slumber. Her head twitched a little, and she made soft moaning sounds to say that she didn't want to wake up yet, and Myka thought it was rather cute. Helena's eyes slowly fluttered open, and Myka quickly shut her eyes and pretended to still be asleep, because if she was awake then she should have probably removed her arm from draping over Helena already.

Myka waited until Helena started to move again, slowly trying to scoot away from the close proximity, before pretending to wake up. She yawned and stretched, lifting her arm from Helena's side finally. "Good morning," she muttered.

"Hm? Morning…" Helena replied sleepily.

"Sleep well?" Myka asked.

"Surprisingly, yes," Helena said. "I can't remember the last time I slept through the night."

"Me either. It was nice." Myka smiled. She wasn't just referring to the full night of sleep being nice, but also to the intimate position in which they woke up. Although she wasn't sure if she wanted Helena to know that. Whether or not Helena picked up on what she implied Myka would never know, because the moment was interrupted by Helena's stomach growling very loudly.

Helena blushed and then sat upright, and Myka followed suit. "Sorry, I haven't eaten in a while."

"Don't apologize," Myka said. "We really need to find Pete though. Why we left him in charge of our main food supply, I have no idea."

"Would you rather have him in charge of ammunition?" Helena asked.

Myka's eyes widened and she reached for her backpack, where all the ammunition was held, and clutched it protectively. "No!" Helena smiled, amused. Then, Myka's stomach growled. It was her turn to blush. "Yeah, let's pack up and go find Pete."

They didn't really have much to pack up; all they had to do was roll up their sleeping bags and reattach them to their backpacks. They were out the front door within a few minutes. But when they walked out the door, they found Pete across the street, sitting in front of a fire.

"Hey Myka! HG!" Pete waved.

Myka and Helena exchanged glances, then looked back to where Pete was sitting. "Pete?" Helena said cautiously. Myka, however, was more blunt.

"Pete, what the hell?!" She stormed over looking like she was about ready to take a flaming piece of wood and smack him over the head with it.

"What?" Pete asked, innocently. "I've got food for you guys!" He grinned and held out some food in his hand. "Dried turkey, your favorite!" Myka kept the death glare plastered on her face.

"Pete, we were looking for you for hours," Helena said. "Where have you been?"

"Well," Pete began, "I wanted to give you guys some space to talk, so I followed you to make sure you couldn't find me. When you guys went to bed without a shouting match happening, I figured it was cool to come back. And I thought you might be getting hungry. When I stormed off I kinda forgot I had all the food. Sorry."

Pete held out the piece of turkey that Myka refused to take and offered it to Helena. She looked at Myka, who quirked a questioning eyebrow. Helena shrugged in response. Myka's expression softened a bit, and she nodded. Then Helena graciously accepted the piece of turkey.

"Whoa, wait, I've only been gone like twelve hours and you already have your own secret language? Not fair!" Pete pouted. He took another piece of turkey for himself.

"Hey," Myka said, "You're the one who left us." Then she snatched the turkey out of Pete's hand before he could take a bite.

"Hey!" Pete tried to grab it back, but Myka stuffed it in her mouth, eliciting laughter from Helena. Myka winked at her.

The three of them sat down by the fire and shared breakfast, and pleasant conversation. Pete also broke out a can of preserved peaches and they passed it around, snacking on the delicious fruit, occasionally flicking juice at each other, laughing. And for a while, they forgot about the constantly looming threat of possibly dying that day.

When the conversation paused for a moment, Pete said, "So, what changed in one night to make you thick as thieves now?"

"Honestly, we're just pretending to get along because we were so hungry," Helena joked.

"Yes, I actually still hate her," Myka said, playing along.

"You hated me?" Helena asked, with mock fear.

Myka's eyes widened and she quickly jumped to defend herself. "No, I didn't hate you! I was just saying—we were…"

"Darling, I'm kidding." Helena smirked. Myka blushed, again, and looked down at her lap, smiling.

Pete stood up, looking down the street. "Hey guys, sorry to break up the party, but we got a couple zombies coming this way."

Myka and Helena turned around to see that there were indeed a couple of zombies trudging down the street directly towards them. "Let's go then!" Myka said, pulling out her dagger and jumping to her feet. She began walking down the street toward the zombies. Helena unsheathed her sword and was right behind her. Then Pete ran after them.

"I got the one on the left," Myka said. Helena nodded and started moving more to the right to attack the other one.

Myka reached her zombie first. It tried clawing at her with its rotting hands. She pushed them out of the way with her arm, then quickly rammed her dagger into its head through its eye socket. Myka watched as it fell to the ground, dead again as it should be. She looked up again just in time to see Helena swing her sword down on the top of her zombie's head, cracking it's skull open and cutting through almost half of its entire head. This one toppled over, also dead.

"Nice!" Myka complimented.

"You too!" Helena said.

"Great job guys," Pete said, once he caught up. "Leave one for me next time?"

"You'll have to beat me to it," Myka said. Helena grinned, amused.

"You know," Pete said," I'm really glad you guys are getting along now."

Myka smiled and turned her head to find Helena already looking at her. Helena was giving her the same look she did last night, the sincere look that made her feel safe. And despite the fact that they had just killed a few zombies and that she had gross zombie blood all over her and that any one of them could have possibly died just now if someone had messed up, Myka did feel safe.

"Me too." They gazed at each other for a few more seconds before Myka turned away, blushing. "Now if I remember correctly, there were still a few more peach slices left in that can…" She sprinted back to the fire, getting a few seconds head start on Pete and Helena before they realized precious fruit was at stake and chased after her.


	7. Anger and fear

Terribly sorry this chapter took so long! I like having at least a first draft of the next chapter done before updating and I was just having major writers block, and I was busy with school and clubs for a while as well. I'll stop churning out excuses and hope I can be forgiven. Enjoy the chapter, and thank you so much for reading!

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"Alright, guys," Pete said, dumping the contents of a plastic bag on the ground between himself, Myka, and Helena. "This is the last of the food until tomorrow, so make it last."

Myka eyed what was on the ground: a small bag of beef jerky, and some dried mango. She reached for the jerky, but then opted for the mango. She opened the package and took a piece out and bit into it, then she held out the open bag to Helena, offering her some.

Helena didn't notice though. "Tomorrow?" she questioned. "What's tomorrow?"

Pete and Myka both looked at her. "How much did Artie tell you before dropping you off with us?" Myka asked.

Helena shrugged. "Just 'you'll be working with agents Lattimer and Bering to kill zombies'."

"That's it?"

Helena nodded. "It was a very brief debriefing."

Pete laughed. "Well, at the end of each month, Artie picks us up and we head back to the Warehouse," he said. "The Warehouse is what we call base. We stay there about a week, sleep in actual beds, relax. They're like our days off. Then on the first of the next month, it's back to work, but Artie still stops by once a week to get us supplies and stuff."

"You get…vacation days?" Helena asked, bewildered.

"Yep!" Pete exclaimed. "And we don't have to worry about zombies. No place safer than the Warehouse!"

Helena still looked a little confused so Myka tried explaining a bit more. "This is still technically our job," she said. "We could be in one of the safe houses with family and friends, but we choose to be out here, trying to help the world get back to normal…eventually. They just want us to be comfortable for a bit and have time to recuperate."

Helena nodded. "Huh," she muttered. "The only way to get out of the job back in England was injury or death."

Myka looked at her sympathetically, and Pete stopped chewing on the piece of jerky that was in his mouth. Myka reached out and put a hand on Helena's back. "Things are different here. Maybe you'll get to enjoy yourself a little," she said with a smile, and took out a piece of dried mango and offered it to Helena.

"I think I already am," Helena said, returning the smile, and graciously accepting the piece of fruit.

"Okay you two, stop flirting," Pete said jokingly, but Myka quickly broke her gaze with Helena, blushing furiously. Helena just smirked and continued looking at Myka. "And for the love of god, don't eat it all right now!"

"But I'm hungry right now," Helena pouted.

"And you'll probably be hungry again later," Pete replied. "It has to last until _tomorrow_. Not this afternoon or later tonight. Tomorrow."

"So that's why you're in charge of the food," she remarked. "Spoil sport." She glanced to Myka who was still blushing, but giggled at the comment nonetheless.

Pete rolled his eyes. "Just put away what's left and let's head out. We could check out that building over there?" He pointed down the street to a very dilapidated, eerie-looking building. It looked like a small shop, maybe a thrift store or pawn shop. The walls were covered in what looked like old blood and guts, the windows were so dusty you couldn't see through them from this distance, and it looked like the roof had caved in. "It looks a little suspicious if you ask me."

"Pete, nobody's lived in cities for over a year," Myka pointed out. "Everything looks a little suspicious."

"Whatever, just, come on!" Pete shoved the jerky in his backpack and jumped up. Myka rolled her eyes. She gave another mango piece to Helena and took one more for herself before putting the bag in her own backpack and following Pete.

The team made their way down the street to the shop Pete pointed out. They stopped next to it and set down their backpacks.

"I'm going to try to peek through the window and see what's inside," Myka said. She moved to the front of the building, rubbed at the glass wall a little to remove some of the dirt, and peered inside. A few seconds later she came back around to the two waiting for her. "Shit Pete, you were right. Good call!" Pete gave her a thumbs up and a grin. "There's at least ten of them in there, maybe more."

Pete rubbed his hands together and grinned. "So, Mykes, what's the plan?"

"I can head in through the front with my knife and take them head-on." She turned to Pete. "Pete, you can follow after me; be ready with your gun to take down any I can't get to. HG, there's probably a back entrance you can—"

When Myka turned to Helena, she was gone. They peered around the corner just in time to see her kick open the front doors, wielding her sword, and disappear into the shop.

"Son of a bitch."

Myka and Pete ran after Helena, guns out, and ready to attack full force. When they entered the shop, Helena was taking down three zombies at once. Myka shot at one that lunged at her, and it fell to the ground, dead. Pete took down one that was about to grab Myka from behind. She'd have to remember to thank him for that later. They fired at a few more zombies that were a little behind at reaching their intruders.

Helena had five dead zombies on the floor around her, some decapitated, some with their heads chopped open, some you couldn't even tell what was done to them, but they were dead nonetheless. It was quite a sight. She turned to Pete and Myka, a triumphant grin on her face. "That wasn't so bad." However, when Myka raised her gun and aimed it at the English woman, her eyes grew wide. "Myka…"

Myka fired, but instead of hitting Helena, she hit a zombie that was about to attack her from behind. It fell to the ground with a thud. That was the last one. Myka glared at Helena for a few seconds, before storming angrily out of the shop.

Helena was just about to run out after her, but something caught her eye. It was apparent that this place used to be a thrift store, and she spotted something on the counter. She admired it for a few seconds with a small smile on her face before picking it up and shoving it in her pocket. Then she followed Myka out of the store, leaving Pete alone inside.

"What the _fuck_ was that?!" Myka wasted no time in confronting the other woman as soon as Helena joined her outside.

"You're angry," Helena stated.

"Of course I'm angry! You could've died!" Myka exclaimed.

"I knew you'd have my back."

"Okay, but why the hell did you do it in the first place?!" Myka asked. She was enraged.

"I don't see the point in strategizing," Helena replied. "Those things lack intelligence, organization, everything except sheer force. There's no way to predict what move they're going to make. I've learned the best approach is to just attack. It's either kill or be killed, and personally, I'd rather just kill." Myka said nothing. She just continued to glare at Helena. "You're angry, I realize that, I just…"

"You pull that shit again, I might not have your back next time." It was both a warning and a concern. Myka was angry, yes, but she was also worried that if Helena did that again, she might not get there in time. They were getting closer, but Myka still barely knew the woman. And yet the thought of losing Helena terrified her.

Helena picked up on the fear in Myka's voice and realized what she was implying. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again." Myka looked up and their eyes met. "I promise."

Myka nodded her head but walked off; she needed time to calm herself. Helena was alone for only a moment before Pete came outside, tossing and catching an old baseball she assumed he acquired from the store. He was grinning.

Pete caught the ball once more, and looked away from it. He noticed the hurt and concerned look on Helena's face. "Don't worry," he said. "Myka likes you now so she won't stay mad for too long." He tossed the baseball to Helena, who caught it and smiled.

"I hope so," she said, and tossed the ball back to Pete.


	8. Sleeping beauty

**Chapter eight**

Myka, Pete, and Helena stood in an empty parking lot. Their guns were ready in case any zombies approached, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. Their GPS signal was turned on, and they waited patiently for the helicopter to come pick them up. Myka was still a little bitter with Helena because of the events of the previous day, but she was starting to get over it. And ever-reliable Pete was always there to ease the tension.

"So HG, you excited to see the Warehouse?" Pete asked. "And you get to meet Claude and Jinksy!"

"Jinksy?" Helena asked. "That's a name?"

"His name is Steve, but we call him Jinksy," Pete answered.

"No," Myka butted in, "_You_ call him Jinksy. Everyone else just calls him Steve."

"Well, to answer your question Pete, yes I'm very excited to see this Warehouse and meet your fellow agents." And Helena was excited, truly. She hadn't had a day off in over a year. Every single minute of her life had been life or death for the longest time that she had forgotten what it would feel like to relax. Helena wasn't sure she would know what to do with herself, but she was definitely looking forward to the week.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an approaching helicopter. "Here we go!" Pete exclaimed. He was always the most excited about their time off. The helicopter landed just long enough for the three agents to pile in before it took off again. It was a small chopper, and there was just enough room for the three of them to fit. Pete sat by himself in the first row, leaving Myka and Helena to sit next to each other in the second row.

It was an excruciatingly long and unbelievably boring helicopter ride. They couldn't talk because they couldn't hear each other over the propellers (and Pete tried to get Myka and Helena to hear him as hard as he could), and they were in the air for almost five hours.

Myka and Pete had made trips like this before, and some had been even longer; they were used to the ride. Helena, however, was a little antsy and the noise was putting her on edge. She hadn't sat around doing nothing for so long in a while. Around hour three, though, Helena began to tune out the roaring of the helicopter blades. She fell asleep.

Helena didn't have nightmares, but her dreams weren't necessarily pleasant either. She saw the people she cared about, the people she lost. She tried to apologize for not being able to save them, but they couldn't hear her. She felt herself falling and was startled awake. There were tears in her eyes, which she kept tightly shut.

It was a moment before Helena realized she was no longer sitting upright, but had fallen to the side. It appeared that she was on Myka's lap. From the sound of her steady breathing, it seemed Myka had also fallen asleep. And was that one of her hands threaded in Helena's hair? Another arm was resting over her side. Helena couldn't move, for fear of waking the other woman, so she remained in the somewhat uncomfortable position for some time until she noticed that the helicopter was beginning its descent.

Helena slowly scooted herself to an upright position and poked Myka to wake her up. "Myka, I believe we've arrived." Myka scrunched her face, annoyed at the disturbance to her slumber and turned her face away. Helena suppressed a giggle. "Myka, darling, wake up!"

Pete turned around in his seat. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty! We're home!" Myka groaned and kept her eyes tightly shut but raised a hand to flip him off. The helicopter landed.

"Sleeping beauty?" Helena commented. "Maybe you need a kiss to wake up!"

Myka hesitantly opened her eyes. "I'm awake."

"That's too bad," said Helena with a wink. Myka's eyes grew wide and she quickly jumped out of the helicopter.

"Let's get inside!" Myka said, trying to hide the blush creeping onto her cheeks. "It's about dinnertime and Leena's probably cooked up something great." She headed over to the large, sturdy building in front of them.

"Oh my god I've missed Leena's food!" Pete exclaimed and bounded after Myka. Helena grinned and followed the two of them inside.

They entered through a large metal door and Myka closed it behind them. What Helena saw amazed her. This place was like part government office, part science lab, part home. Literally. They were in a sort of waiting room. Through the door to her left were lots of computer screens and desks and paperwork. Past the door to her right was a small lab with a few scientists, assumingly developing new technologies with which to fight the zombies. And in front of her, through yet another doorway was a living room, which looked like it led to other hallways and a kitchen, and past that, she couldn't see.

"HG, welcome to the Warehouse!" Pete said and clapped her on the shoulder.

Helena looked around. "I must say, from what I can see, I'm impressed."

"Wait til you see the rest of it! Mykes and I can give you the full tour." His stomach growled. "After dinner. I'm starving!"

"Is that Pete I hear?" a voice called. Leena appeared in front of them wearing an apron.

"Leena!" Pete ran up and gave her a hug. "What's for dinner? It smells delicious."

"I made chicken parm, your favorite," she said.

"That's not my favorite, that's—" Pete froze as realization crossed his face. "You asked Claude what I'd want for dinner, didn't you?" Leena nodded. "Well at least she didn't say something I hate. CLAUDIA!" he called, and ran into the living room.

"Leena, I've missed you," Myka said, and gave the other girl a hug.

"I've missed you too! My favorite time of the month is always when you guys are home."

"Me too, but I suppose that's not saying much considering the conditions we're in out there." They both laughed.

"Helena, it's great to see you again too," Leena said, and pulled Helena in for a hug, surprising her. Helena smiled. "Dinner will be ready in five minutes so just make yourselves comfortable."

"Thank you," both women replied. Helena and Myka followed Leena into the living room but sat down next to each other on the couch as she went to the kitchen.

They sat in silence for a while. Neither women spoke. It wasn't awkward, but there seemed to be a bit of tension. Finally Helena had to ask, "Are you still angry with me?"

Myka thought about it for a moment. "No," she said. "I'm not sure I even was to begin with."

Helena frowned. "Why not? You had every right to be."

"I guess I was more worried," she said. "The moment you went inside that building, I was scared. You could've died. I couldn't…" Myka trailed off and shook her head, forcing a smile on her face.

"I really am sorry, you know," Helena said. "I didn't mean to worry you."

Myka was going to say it was fine and it didn't matter, but when she saw the way Helena was looking at her, it took her breath away. The dark brown eyes shone with concern and regret and…something else. Something good. Myka smiled; it was small, but it was real.

It wasn't until Leena came to get them for dinner that Myka realized how close she and Helena actually were.

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**A/N: **This chapter was slightly filler, so sorry if it's not quite up to par with the last few chapters. Good stuff is coming, I promise! And feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading :)


	9. Distance

I am so terribly sorry for the super long, unannounced hiatus! I was in my last few weeks of school and didn't have time and had a lot of writers block. Honestly, I've still got a bit of writers block but I don't want to make you wait any longer. It's summer now, so hopefully I'll have a bit more time to write and can get back to weekly updates! In the meantime, enjoy this next installment. Thanks so much for reading, and feedback is always appreciated :)

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**Chapter nine: Distance**

"…And finally, these are the bedrooms." Pete led Helena, with Myka trailing closely behind, down a wide hallway with doors on both sides. Claudia's and Pete's rooms had their names on the door, and he pointed out Steve, Myka, and Leena's rooms. "I think Leena already put your stuff in the room across the hall from Myka's, but feel free to pick any other unoccupied room you like."

"Across from Myka is perfectly fine with me," Helena said with a smile and a brief glance to the woman mentioned. Myka noticed this from the corner of her eye and turned her head to hide a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I'm exhausted." He waved goodbye when he entered his room.

"'Night, Pete," Myka called after him.

Pete closed his door, leaving Helena and Myka alone in the hallway.

"Well this place is simply marvelous," Helena said to break the silence between them.

"Oh, that was just the Pete tour," Myka replied. Helena looked at her questioningly. "Pete's version of the tour is just stuff he likes, which doesn't include any of my favorite places! There's a few more little gems here you might like to see." She paused. "Unless you're tired too, it can wait until tomorrow if you want to sleep."

Helena smiled. "I am very awake, and would be delighted if you wanted to show me your favorite things."

The emphasis Helena put on the word '_your'_ didn't go unnoticed by Myka. She blushed. "It's not much. Just two things, really, and they're not all that great."

"Myka, whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it."

Myka grinned. "Alright," she said. "Let's go then." Without thinking, Myka grabbed Helena's hand and led her through doorways and corridors to find a pair of large oak doors. Helena stared at the doors curiously, trying to figure out what was behind them. The look of concentration on her face, Myka thought, was adorable. She shook her head at the thought and pushed it to the back of her mind before opening the doors to reveal a small but grand library.

The room was barely larger than a bedroom, but shelves made up all the walls from floor to ceiling, and there were shelves in the middle too. And every last inch of shelf space was covered in books.

"Wow." Helena was breathless. She hadn't seen a collection this large in such a long time. It made her miss her library back home (which was probably ransacked, burned, or destroyed in some other way by now). "This is incredible," she muttered in awe.

Myka nodded, gazing admirably not at the books, but at the woman before her. "Yeah," she agreed. "It's hard to find so many books in one place nowadays. This is my second favorite room here."

Helena turned around and looked at Myka, bewildered. "Second favorite? What could possibly trump this?"

Myka just smiled knowingly and took her hand again, intertwining their fingers this time. She led her around the corner, down another hallway, and through some glass doors and they were outside. Helena gasped at what she saw.

It was a small garden area in the middle of the compound and it was very much outside. They were standing in cool summer air, and they could hear crickets chirping and see the stars above their heads.

There was grass, actual grass. Not dead, brown, dried-up grass, but soft and green and still slightly damp from the last time it was watered. There was a bird bath in the middle of the lawn, and there were flowers all over: lilacs, tulips, daisies, different kinds of roses. There was even a small pond on the far end of the garden.

"This," Myka said, "is my favorite place."

"It's magnificent," Helena said after a moment, still letting the beauty of this little area sink in. Since everyone in the world was either dead or in some sort of safe house or bunker, all of the nicely kept lawns or gardens have all been overgrown or rundown or just died. And sure, there were still a lot of beautiful sights to see out in nature, but there was nothing like this that was still cared for anymore. This was obviously very well-kept and taken care of and Helena loved it.

"It was Leena's idea," Myka explained. "She thought we'd all go mad if we had to stay inside 24/7, so she started this up and she takes care of it. It's in the middle of the entire compound, so it's protected from any outside forces. Birds come down here sometimes."

Helena listened, and nodded. She looked up at the sky. Not a cloud in sight. The stars were bright and clear. She smiled.

"I like to come out here and read," Myka told her. "It's so peaceful."

"It is," Helena agreed. "I love it. Thank you for taking me here." Helena squeezed her hand in thanks, and Myka grinned and blushed, hoping that it was too dark out for Helena to see. The little squeeze made Myka realize that their hands were still tightly clasped together, but she didn't make any move to pull away, and neither did Helena. In fact, Helena squeezed a little tighter and led her over to the bench nearby so they could sit.

"Are you tired?" Myka asked.

Helena shook her head. "No. In fact, I'm afraid I'll be up for a while thanks to that nap I took on the helicopter ride."

Myka laughed. "Me too."

"Are you sure you got enough rest, Sleeping Beauty?" Helena teased. "You seemed very reluctant to wake up."

Myka rolled her eyes. "God, not you too! I already get teased enough by Pete!"

"Oh, darling, you know I don't mean any harm by it," Helena replied.

"I know," Myka agreed. The two women smiled at each other. They sat in silence for a while perfectly content in their company. Helena quickly stroked her thumb against Myka's knuckles, seeing as still neither of them had separated their hands. Myka's cheeks burned and her lips quirked up at the feeling. What are they doing? Helena shouldn't make her feel like this. She didn't want her cheeks to flush or her stomach to flutter with everything the other woman did, but she couldn't stop it.

"You are remarkable," Helena muttered after some time. Myka looked at Helena to find the other woman gazing at her with something in her eyes she couldn't quite place. Myka found herself eyeing the smaller woman's soft lips that had a small smile on them. She subconsciously flicked her tongue across her own lips. She hadn't felt this close to someone in a long time. She could just lean in, and…

Myka quickly pulled her hand away and scooted to the end of the bench as far as she could. She put as much distance between them as possible. Distance, Myka had to remind herself. Don't let anyone closer than they need to be.

"You know what," she said. "I think I am getting a kind of tired." She didn't miss the hurt look on Helena's face, and immediately regretted pulling away. But she couldn't change that now. "I'm going to bed." She stood up and tried to leave the garden.

"Wait," Helena said. Myka flinched, expecting the worst. Or best? Wow, she had a lot to think about. She turned around. "I haven't a clue how to get back to the bedrooms."

"Oh!" Myka said. "Right, uh, come on then. I'll show you the way back."

Helena followed Myka in silence. Neither of them spoke, and they didn't hold hands this time. When they reached their rooms, Myka and Helena turned to face each other.

"Goodnight, Helena." Myka lifted a hand, as if to reach out and touch Helena, but opted not to after a moment and awkwardly brought her hand back to her side.

Helena just nodded and forced a smile. "Goodnight."

Myka couldn't have escaped into her room more quickly. Once the door was closed behind her, wandering thoughts of what ifs and why nots kept her awake.


	10. Solutions

I wanted to get a new chapter up as soon as possible as both an apology for making you wait so long last time and a celebration of Warehouse 13's (sort of) renewal. Note the rating change, just to be safe. Hope you enjoy and thanks so much for reading!

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**Chapter 10: Solutions**

"I thought I'd find you here."

Myka's eyes shot up from her book upon hearing the enthralling voice she was now all too familiar with. "Helena, hi." She marked her page and closed the book, and looked up at the woman approaching.

Helena sat down on the bench next to Myka. "I can't tell you how difficult it was to find this place again without your guidance. I got lost a few times. The Warehouse is massive!" Myka stared at her, confused. "You know, I'd forgotten how wonderful a hot shower could feel." Her hair was still damp and smelled of strawberries. "I don't think I remember the last time I had a proper shower."

Myka smiled, but she didn't understand why Helena was being so pleasant with her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I don't know what you mean." Helena was confused now.

"Aren't you mad at me?"

"Darling, why on earth would I be mad at you?" Helena questioned.

"I just thought…" Myka trailed off and shook her head. "Never mind." She opened her book again and began to read.

"Anyway," Helena continued, "I was wondering what your plans are today? I thought maybe you'd like to go to the library, I could use a few recommendations."

Myka glanced at Helena, trying to think of an excuse. After last night, she needed to be careful about spending time alone with this woman who had her captivated in more ways than one. "I—I can't," Myka stuttered out. "I told Pete I'd help him with a—a thing."

"A thing?" Helena questioned. "Well it won't take the whole day, will it?"

"It will!" Myka stated. "In fact, I should probably be there now." She closed her book again and walked off without looking back.

Helena hung her head in disappointment. "What about tomorrow then?" she called out. Myka pretended not to hear her.

It went on like this for days. Helena would request to spend some time with Myka and Myka would come up with some ridiculous excuse as to why she couldn't. She was growing too close to the British woman, and she wouldn't let that happen. The more people she cared about, the easier it was to get hurt. Myka learned that the hard way and she wouldn't face that pain again.

So, of course, the best solution Myka could come up with was to avoid her like the plague, which frustrated Helena to no end. Myka spent most of her time either hiding in Claudia's room watching her work on various contraptions, or helping Leena out around the Warehouse with cooking, cleaning, etc. It wasn't much fun, but it kept her busy and away from Helena.

It wasn't until their last night at the Warehouse that Myka found herself with nothing to do to avoid the other woman. She ended up in the garden with a book once again, because she missed it after having to avoid that place all week. Myka figured it would always be the first place Helena would look for her.

And that proved to be true. Myka had barely read a page of her book—_Fahrenheit 451_ by Ray Bradbury—when Helena strolled through the glass doors and planted herself in front of Myka, arms crossed over her chest, and a very annoyed look on her face.

"You've been avoiding me." It wasn't a question.

"I've been busy," Myka dismissed. She didn't even look up from her book when she replied.

"Oh, bollocks!" Helena shouted angrily. "You've barely said two words to me on any given day, I've not seen you for more than a minute at a time, and now you're being dismissive!"

Myka did not reply.

"I must admit, I preferred it when we fought. At least you were speaking to me then." The anger was gone from Helena's voice, and it was replaced with disappointment.

This got Myka to acknowledge her. She set down her book beside her and glanced up, timidly meeting Helena's eyes. "What do you want me to say?"

And then the anger was back. "I want to know why! We seemed to be getting along swimmingly before, and all of a sudden it's like I don't even exist!"

"Helena, calm down," Myka said nonchalantly. "It's not a big deal." She reached for her book once again, but Helena swatted at her hand to keep her attention.

"That doesn't mean I don't have a right to be angry and want answers."

Myka shot up from her place on the bench to face Helena as she replied. "If anyone has a right to be angry, it's me!" The confused look on Helena's face basically said 'what on earth are you talking about woman?', and Myka continued. "I told you that I didn't want to get close to anyone, but you still forced your way in!"

Helena's voice dropped to a concerned whisper. "Is that what this is about?"

But Myka cut her off and continued, her voice growing louder. "I told you, I _fucking_ told you! I didn't want to get close to anyone or let anyone in but you didn't listen! You wedged your way in with your charm and your…your…your _ways_ and I never wanted you to do that! So just stop!"

After a moment of silence, except for Myka's heavy breathing after her outburst, Helena spoke. "Myka, I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to care about me, I just wanted—"

"I _never_ said I cared about you," Myka interrupted.

Helena rolled her eyes. "You implied it!"

Myka was right up in Helena's face, glaring. You could practically see steam coming out of her ears. And then, her face changed. Before Helena could place the emotion she saw, she felt a hand grip the back of her neck and soft lips forcefully crashing into her own. Myka's lips. Kissing hers. Helena's mind went blank, and the moment she collected her thoughts enough tell herself to kiss back, the lips disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. By the time Helena's eyes fluttered open, Myka was gone.

_Fahrenheit 451_ sat untouched on the bench.

Myka slammed her bedroom door shut and leaned back against it, panting heavily, out of breath from both the kiss and from sprinting back to her room. She closed her eyes and grabbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers.

"What have you done?" she sighed.

The next morning, after futile attempts to fall asleep, Myka was packing a few of her things into her backpack. It was back to work soon. There was a soft knock at the door.

"It's open," Myka said without thinking, inviting whoever it was inside.

Yep, you guessed it, Helena came through the door and closed it softly behind her. Myka froze. Helena stuck out her hand, offering Myka a book. _Farehenheit 451_. "You left it on the bench last night," she stated.

Myka grabbed the book and stuck it in her backpack, muttering thanks. When Helena didn't leave, Myka sighed heavily spoke up again. "Is that it?" she sneered.

"Back to being rude again, are we?" Helena scoffed. "You know why I'm here."

"I can't say I do." Myka tried to direct her attention to packing once again and began to walk away, but Helena gabbed her shoulder and spun her around again.

"Oh, do stop it!" she exclaimed. "You've been acting like the most obnoxious arse and I am _sick_ of it!"

"Oh really? You're sick of it? Damn, I guess I'll have to stop being an ass because _HG's_ sick of it!" Myka's voice was laced with sarcasm and Helena just couldn't take it anymore. The solution? Kiss Myka as fiercely as possible.

Helena grabbed the taller girl's cheeks and pulled her down until their lips met. Helena kissed her hungrily, with ferocity, like a lion devouring its prey. And Myka simply allowed herself to be devoured in such a manner. Their senses were flooded with heat and passion. As Helena threaded her fingers into gorgeous, curly locks and attacked her lips, Myka slid her hands beneath Helena's shirt to grip hot skin instead of cool fabric.

She pushed the two of them backwards until they collapsed on the bed, with Helena on the bottom, and continued kissing. Neither Myka nor Helena knew what they were doing, but lust had consumed their every nerve and they couldn't stop if they wanted to. Myka furiously worked at the buttons on Helena's pants and she was about to slip her hand inside when there was a rapt knock at the door.


	11. Back to work

**Chapter 11**

Myka froze, as if just realizing exactly what she had been doing—making out with Helena. Her eyes grew wide as she tried to push herself away. Helena, on the other hand, hadn't heard the knock and tried to kiss Myka again.

Another knock. "Mykes, you in there?" It was Pete.

Myka shot up off of Helena. "Uhhh, just a second!" She pushed the woman off her bed on the other side, hidden from sight. "If you make a _sound_ I will cut off your limbs and feed them to the zombies," she whispered to Helena. "Are we clear?" Helena nodded silently. Myka pushed her head down and walked over to the door, opening it. "What is it, Pete?"

"Whoa, someone's grouchy," Pete said, stepping inside the room. "And what up with the sex hair? I mean, if that's what you're going for it doesn't look bad, I'm just curious."

"I, uhh, took a nap," Myka stuttered, nervously fixing her curls.

Pete raised an eyebrow. "It's ten in the morning."

"I was tired," Myka shrugged.

"Anway," Pete continued. "The chopper's leaving in half an hour, so be ready by then." Myka nodded. Pete turned and left, but stepped back through the door a moment later. "Oh, have you seen HG anywhere?"

Myka tried to fight the blush she felt creeping onto her cheeks, and replied with a quick, "No, I haven't." Helena snorted from behind the bed.

Thankfully, Pete didn't hear. "If you see her, tell her we're leaving soon."

"Will do," Myka replied, ushering Pete out of her room and closing the door behind him.

As soon as Pete was gone, Myka put a hand to her face and sighed in relief. Helena, on the other hand, got up from behind the bed, snaked her arms around Myka's waist from behind, and moved her hair to kiss her neck. "I thought he'd never leave."

"Hey, whoa, stop!" Myka said, and pushed Helena off of her.

Helena didn't try to hide the hurt and confused look on her face. "But we were just—"

"It doesn't matter what we were just doing," Myka snapped. "It shouldn't have happened and it won't happen again."

"For a moment I thought we were actually getting somewhere," Helena said.

"No, we're not _getting_ anywhere," Myka said harshly. "That was a mistake. I don't care about you, so you should just leave."

"But Myka, I—"

"Get. Out." The vice in Myka's voice is what caused Helena to obey without question.

Myka finished her diligent packing and went out to pick up her bag of ammunition before they left. She was the first one ready to go, closely followed by Pete. Helena trailed behind, as she had been a bit preoccupied earlier.

Myka kept to herself the whole morning, except to say goodbye to Leena, before she, Pete, Helena, Steve, and Claudia were all crammed into a helicopter to be dropped off somewhere in the country and left to kill zombies. It was a long, awkward ride, crammed on a seat between Steve and Helena. Steve was trying to make polite conversation, but Myka would only respond harshly.

"You ok, Myka?" Steve asked after she swore under her breath about wanting everyone to leave her alone.

"I'm fine," Myka snapped. It didn't take Steve's special skill for everyone to know she was lying.

The next time she spoke that day was when the helicopter landed just outside of Portland so Myka could say goodbye to Steve and Claudia. She gave them both a hug. "Be safe," she whispered to Claudia. As much as she hated to admit it, the girl was like a little sister to her.

"You too," Claudia muttered back and squeezed her tighter for just a second.

"See you in a month," Myka said. She, Pete, and Helena stood outside on the dirt ground and waved as the helicopter took off again, leaving them alone. They stood in tense silence for a few minutes; no one wanted to make the first move, and frankly, Pete was just a little terrified of them right now.

"Well then," Helena said, finally breaking the silence. "Let's go this way, shall we?"

"That's south," Myka stated.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that," Helena said, trying to stay calm.

"Well, we should be heading east."

"Righty ho, then. You're the boss," Helena said sarcastically.

Myka rolled her eyes. "Let's go," she said, and walked off without making sure anyone followed her. Helena stayed behind for a moment, but when Pete followed due to merely intimidation, she figured she didn't want to be left alone, and reluctantly trudged along after them.

It was still only early afternoon when they came across the first group of zombies. Pete drew his gun and Helena unsheathed her sword, but before they could do anything, Myka attacked. She quickly stabbed one in the eye, kicked another one down and stomped on its skull, then threw her dagger straight through the head of the last one. All within the span of a few seconds.

"Whoa, Mykes, impressive!" Pete gushed excitedly.

"Thanks," Myka replied with a smirk.

"Whatever happened to careful planning?" Helena questioned boldly.

Myka turned around sharply. "What?"

"I'm just saying, a few weeks ago, you reprimanded me for acting just as you did now."

"I reprimanded you for not following orders and straying from the _plan_. This is an entirely different situation and you know it." Helena said nothing, so Myka continued. "I planned it in my head because I knew I could take those—"

"Oh, get off your high horse!" Helena snapped.

"Excuse me?" Myka glared and crossed her arms, daring Helena to keep going.

"You didn't know you could take them, because you're no better than either of us," Helena said, gesturing to herself and Pete. "You were just being reckless!"

Myka scoffed. "I was _not_ being reckless. You shouldn't just accuse me with nothing to back you up!"

"I wasn't accusing, I was—"

"ENOUGH!"

The two bickering women fell silent and turned to Pete who was getting real tired of all their shit.

"I don't know what's going on with you two," he said, "but you _both_ need to stop. Need I remind you it's life or death out here? I seem to be the only one who remembers that!" Both girls looked down at their feet. "I don't really want to die out here, do you?" They shook their heads. "Good. Now, stop your fighting. If you can't work your shit out, then just don't talk. But remember, we have to work _together_."

Myka and Helena nodded in silent agreement.

"Let's go then." Pete continued walking in the direction they were headed. Myka kept her head down and followed. Helena stole a glance at the other woman before following as well.

They walked for hours in complete silence . They walked through marketplaces and neighborhoods and shopping centers and schools, and they didn't come across anymore zombies. The sun was beginning to set.

"Let's find a place to stay for the night," Pete suggested. They turned into the nearest neighborhood and found the only house with the front door still closed, and apparently locked. "Should be safe in there, if we can get in."

"Step aside, friends," Helena smirked. "I've got this." Pete and Myka moved out of the way. Helena took a step back, a deep breath, and then kicked down the door. "Oh, I always enjoy doing that!" she said excitedly, and rushed inside the house. "I don't know about you two, but I am feeling a bit…"

Helena trailed off as three zombies appeared out of nowhere, blocking the exit, separating her from Pete and Myka. Pete saw another coming from behind Helena and tried to warn her. "HG, behind you!"

She turned around and jumped out of the way a moment too late. The flesh eating creature grabbed Helena by the wrist, and she struggled to break free.

"HELENA!" Myka shouted.

The creature's grip tightened on her arm as she tried to escape and its nails dug into her skin. Flesh tore away, blood spilled, and Helena screamed in pain.


	12. You were right

I'm going to try to do either weekly or biweekly updates for the rest of this story! Don't worry, there's still a bit left, but yeah I will be trying to update more often. Thanks so much for reading!

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**Chapter Twelve**

Helena's scream brought Myka into action. She ran into the room and let her instincts take over. She did a barrel roll between two zombies that were about to lunge for her to kick away the one gripping Helena's arm. The thing fell back, disoriented.

On the floor, she saw a long, thin metal pipe. She reached for it and jumped up just in time to bash a zombie in the head with it repeatedly until it was dead. She then spun around quickly and skewered it through the heads of two zombies simultaneously, like an undead shish kebab.

Last was the one that had attacked Helena. Myka was seeing red as she approached the slow moving, stupid creature, which was still disoriented from that kick she gave it. Myka kicked it again. And again. And again. It fell to the ground. She kicked it in the head, repeatedly. She jumped down, straddling the thing, drew her dagger and stabbed it in the face. Again and again, screaming in rage, she stabbed it in the face and tore out its flesh and bashed it in the head. Long after it was dead she continued to mutilate the creature, taking out all her anger and frustration and fear. She didn't notice when she started crying.

Pete and Helena just watched in stunned silence as she violently attacked the dead zombie. Helena cradled her injured arm, but had forgotten about the pain. When Myka's cries turned from anger to anguish, Helena decided to intervene. She stepped up and crouched next to Myka, putting a good hand on the other woman's shoulder. Myka tensed at first, and almost lunged at Helena, but then she saw the look in her eyes and relaxed.

"Shh, Myka, it's alright," Helena whispered, rubbing Myka's back. "I'm fine, see. You can stop now." She put a hand over Myka's that was gripping the dagger tightly, coaxing her fingers to loosen her grip. Slowly, Myka relaxed her hand, along with the rest of her body. The bloody knife clattered to the ground. She fell into Helena's arms, sobbing.

Helena just held her, rubbing her back, whispering soothing words into her ear. "Shh, darling, everything's going to be alright."

"Y-you could've d-died," Myka choked out through her sobs.

"But I didn't, dear," Helena whispered. "You saved me."

Myka sniffled and coughed, trying to cease her tears. After a few moments, Myka mumbled, "You were r-right."

"About what?" Helena asked softly.

"I do care about you."

Helena smiled softly and pressed her lips to Myka's hair, still holding onto her, relaxing her. Pete left to wait outside because he felt like he was intruding.

When Myka's crying ceased, Helena began to notice the pain in her arm. She looked down and suddenly remembered the bloody gash.

"Oh, no," Helena panicked.

"Oh, gosh, Helena, I'm so sorry," Myka apologized, seeing her injury. She sniffled and wiped away some of her tears. "I should've helped you with that first."

"No, Myka, this is bad!" Helena exclaimed. "I've been scratched, I'm going to turn!" She backed away from Myka, afraid to hurt her. "You have to shoot me!"

"What? No, Helena, calm down!" Myka said, and placed her hands on Helena's shoulders. "The Warehouse came up with this antibacterial cream that neutralizes the bacteria from a scratch." Helena was starting to cry, but Myka cupped her face, wiping a few tears. "Helena, you're going to be fine. I've just got to fix that up for you."

Helena nodded. Myka guided them both outside with Pete because they didn't want to be in the room with those dead zombies anymore. They sat on the porch as Myka got out their medical kit and cleaned up all the blood and dirt. She put on the neutralizing cream and Helena winced at the sting, but it was better than a bullet to the head.

"Helena, you're going to need stitches," Myka said.

"Wonderful," Helena muttered sarcastically. "How am I supposed to get those?"

"Oh, I was going to do them, I was just warning you."

"Oh, brilliant."

Myka dabbed a bit of alcohol at the wound, and got out one of their small bottles of whiskey that said, in extremely large print, "FOR MEDICAL EMERGENCIES ONLY". As in, no using them to get drunk. Just to numb the pain.

Helena finished the whole bottle in a few gulps, and Myka got to work stitching up her arm. Myka concentrated, in order to finish as quickly as possible; she knew how uncomfortable getting stitches was. Helena just closed her eyes and braced herself.

"Okay, all done," Myka said as she finished up. She put a bandage over it and warned Helena against excessive movement for a day or two so it wouldn't open again. Thankfully it had been her left arm, so she could still fight with her right, if necessary.

"Thank you, doctor," Helena mumbled with a grin. "I'm feeling better already." She looked into Myka's eyes, with a smile on her face, and Myka gazed back. The silence was broken when a snore erupted from Pete.

"I guess Pete fell asleep," Myka giggled. They glanced over at him. He had taken out his sleeping bag, but hadn't even bothered to get inside and fell asleep on top of it. "Looks like we're sleeping on the porch tonight. I don't know about you, but I'm not going back in there."

"Oh, I agree. Porch it is." Helena reached for her backpack to retrieve her sleeping bag, but Myka swatted her hand away.

"No," Myka warned. "You sit, rest. I'll get your sleeping bag set up."

Helena smiled in thanks. "What would I do without you?"

Myka unrolled Helena's sleeping bag and set it down. She grabbed her own bag and started for the other side of the porch, but Helena stopped her. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Setting up my sleeping bag," Myka answered, confused.

"Over there?" Helena asked. Myka nodded, but Helena shook her head and gestured pointedly at the space next to her own. Myka smiled and did as she asked.

When Myka finished, she came back over to help Helena up. She grabbed Helena's good hand and slowly lifted her off the porch. Helena pulled away, but continued holding Myka's hand in her own, and turned to face the taller woman. "Thank you," she whispered, and squeezed Myka's hand.

Myka nodded, understanding what she meant. After a moment's hesitation that was thwarted by a glisten in Helena's eyes, Myka leaned down and captured her lips with her own. She tasted of sweat and a little bit of blood, but also of a taste that was distinctly Helena, and Myka committed that taste to her memory. Unlike their previous, sudden kisses, which were either brief or rushed, this one was thought out and slow, allowing Myka and Helena to savor every moment as their lips moved against each other and tongues traced delicate patterns within their mouths and their hearts fluttered in content.

Myka broke the kiss reluctantly, but sadly her lungs could not survive on the taste of Helena alone; they required oxygen as well. She sucked in breaths of air and rested her forehead against Helena's. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's quite alright, dear," Helena replied. "You've more than made up for it."

"It's just, it scares me," Myka admitted. "The way I feel for you."

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Helena reassured, and she pressed their lips together once again, more briefly this time. Still holding Myka's hand, she laced their fingers together and led her over to their sleeping bags.

They both also decided to forgo sleeping inside the bags tonight, and instead got comfortable on top of them, curled up into each other, legs tangled together, close enough to feel and hear the steady rhythm of each other's breathing.


	13. Tree of Life

Quote is from _Fahrenheit 451_ by Ray Bradbury (what Myka was reading in a previous chapter). I've been busy with work but I will keep trying to update as regularly as possible. Thanks for reading!

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**Chapter 13**

Myka woke up to the sun shining in her face, curled up and enveloped in comforting arms, which is something that hadn't happened in a long time. Helena was still asleep next to her. Myka smiled and placed a light kiss on her forehead before extracting herself from the other woman's embrace and sitting up. She found Pete leaning against the wall, snacking on some beef jerky, watching her with a smile on his face.

"What are you looking at?" Myka asked lightly.

"I _knew_ it!" Pete exclaimed proudly. "I didn't say anything but I knew you two were hot for each other, and now you're all…" He made exaggerated kissing faces to tease her.

Myka rolled her eyes, "Ugh, shut up!"

"Do you want me to get lost for a bit? I can leave you two alone so you can—"

"That's it!" Myka jumped up, bounded over to Pete, and punched him in the arm.

Helena stirred in her sleeping bag and opened her eyes to find Myka attacking Pete. Still groggy from sleep and blood loss, Helena sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Did the zombies get Pete?" she mumbled sleepily.

Myka and Pete both stopped their fighting and turned to Helena. "No," Myka replied. "He's just being an ass."

"I wasn't being an ass!" Pete defended. "I was being courteous!" Myka glared at him and he shut his mouth.

"What time is it?" Helena asked. "Are we going to head out soon?"

Myka checked the time on her watch. "It's half past eleven." Helena's eyes widened at how late it was. Usually they were up and ready to go at sunrise. "But I was thinking, maybe we should stay put for a day," Myka continued.

"What? But we can't just sit here," Helena complained, suddenly awake. "We need to be out _there_! Fighting zombies!"

"Helena, you lost a lot of blood yesterday," Myka explained. "You need to rest."

"I don't need to rest, I'm fine!" And to prove her point, Helena quickly stood up…only to stumble and start to fall. Myka quickly jumped over and caught her.

"Rest."

Helena huffed, but obliged and reluctantly nodded. She let Myka lead her to the porch steps to sit down. "What are we even going to do all day?"

"You're going to sit," Myka said. Helena frowned, obviously not too happy with this idea. "And I should probably change your bandages at some point."

"Might as well do that now," Helena said, sticking out her arm. "It's starting to itch."

"Okay, but you can't scratch it," Myka warned. Helena nodded absentmindedly. Myka unwrapped the bandages that covered Helena's arm, stained with dried blood and dirt. As she went to get fresh ones out of the medical kit, Helena started to scratch at her stitches. Myka returned and saw what Helena was doing. She slapped the injured woman's hand away. "What did I just say?!"

"Don't scratch it," Helena repeated with a pout. Myka had to suppress a giggle at the adorable look on her face, and instead placed a quick kiss on her lips. That seemed to satisfy Helena and her pout turned into a smile as Myka replaced her bandages.

Most of their day of rest was rather boring. They sat around talking, mostly, and Pete got a deck of cards out of his backpack, but eventually they ran out of small talk to make and card games to play. Helena ended up falling asleep (after vehemently insisting that she was _not_ tired _at all_), and Pete started to get restless so he went for a walk.

Myka was left alone with a sleeping Helena and nothing to do. She sat with her back leaning against the outside wall of the house and watched protectively over Helena's unconscious form. Eventually she got out her book and began to read to pass the time. She didn't know how long she was reading but when she reached the last page of the book, she noticed Helena stir and crawl over to lean against her side.

"Will you read to me?"

Myka tore her eyes from the page to meet the eyes that were looking up at her. "Well I'm almost done. I could read you the beginning?"

"No, no, it's fine, I've already read it," Helena assured. "Go from where you are. I just want to hear your voice."

Myka's lips quirked up into a small smile. "Okay." She turned her eyes back to the page and read the last words aloud to Helena.

"'_And on either side of the river was there a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations._ Yes, thought Montag, that's the one I'll save for noon. For noon. . . when we reach the city.'" It was only the last paragraph, but Helena seemed to enjoy it. Her eyes were closed as she smiled to herself and her fingers were laced around the locket she wore.

"Helena," Myka started cautiously. "Can I ask about your necklace?"

Helena opened her eyes and gave her a small, sad smile. She pulled the locket over her head and opened it, holding it out to Myka. There was a picture of a little girl inside. A child, maybe 8 or 9 years old. The girl looked remarkably similar to Helena.

"Who..?"

"That's Christina," Helena said. "My daughter."

"You have a daughter?" Myka asked, shocked.

Helena nodded. "She was remarkable." Myka picked up on the sadness in her voice and her eyes, the word _was_.

"What happened?" she asked.

Helena looked away and swallowed hard. It was difficult for her to recall that day. "The first day the zombies came, I was at work and Christina was home with a sitter. When I heard about the first attacks, I rushed home. The door was hanging open and I found what was left of both Christina and her sitter." Helena said it flatly, without emotion, as if she had become numb to the pain over time. But Myka heard the quiver in her voice. Helena just didn't want to show how much she was still hurting.

Myka wrapped her arms around Helena and held her. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Helena said nothing, she just sat in Myka's embrace, grateful for someone to share her story with. After sitting in silence for a while, Myka looked at the picture of Christina again. "She looks just like you," she said.

"People always used to say that."

Myka leaned her head against Helena's and silence took over once again. Eventually, Helena spoke up.

"Christina had always wanted to go camping," she started. Myka listened intently. "She always wanted to go camping, but we never had the time. So the night before, I set up a tent in the backyard, and we made s'mores and told stories and drew pictures in the sky." She turned to face Myka. "That's why I'm always looking at the stars. They remind me of my last night with my Christina. They make me feel like part of her is still here with me."

A few tears slipped from her eyes and Helena tried to blink them away, but Myka caught her face in her hands and wiped them away. "I know she is," Myka said, with a reassuring smile.

Helena leaned in and pressed her lips against Myka's, fitting perfectly together. It was a sweet, loving kiss. Helena pulled away to mutter a small, "Thanks." Myka just smiled and grabbed Helena's hand, lacing their fingers together. She was glad Helena trusted her enough to reveal her more she found out about this woman, the more she felt herself falling for her.

But for the first time, Myka thought that maybe falling for her wouldn't be so bad.


End file.
